Billy

June 2004

A home birth was a pipe dream to me. Something people like me wouldn’t be able to achieve. I didn’t even think I was capable of natural childbirth – I wasn’t even capable of going into labour myself! My first son was induced at 42 weeks at Guy’s hospital in London. He was induced because I was 2 weeks overdue. Then begun the spiral of intervention which resulted in a caesarean section due lack to progress. My brand new baby and I were put on antibiotics as a precautionary measure due to an elevated temperature I’d had whilst in labour. Once home I suffered terrible baby blues for the first 6 weeks and various difficulties with breast feeding, resulting in me stopping at 6 weeks.

I first met Virginia when I was 18 weeks pregnant. I had started looking into how I could achieve continuity of care to try and avoid some of the problems I’d had with my first son (I continue to feel my caesarean section was unnecessary) and an independent midwife appeared to be the answer and only way of achieving continuity of care. My antenatal care went well. Virginia became more like a friend than a midwife. The antenatal visits were laid back and we always had time to cover any issues I had that month. We thoroughly went over my notes from my first baby and she was able to explain some of what had happened. Her positive outlook was relentless and infectious. I started looking forward to the arrival of no 2 which was quite a turn around and by 30 weeks I was considering a home birth. Previously when I’d read the birth stories on Virginia’s website I didn’t think that was possible for me, but I’d started to think that could really be me-maybe I could do it!

I got to 42 weeks and 2 days which wasn’t a great surprise as my first pregnancy went 2 weeks overdue. My husband and I had started to get nervous about being overdue but Virginia provided a lot of research for us to read on induction of labour and we decided to wait for things to start naturally this time. Of all the things I wanted to achieve this time round, spontaneous labour was the first on my list. Following a second sweep I had contractions on and off all afternoon, however by 7pm that evening the contractions were coming every 5 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds. I’d also had a show. We still didn’t want to believe it was actually happening just in case it stopped and we became disappointed, but rang Virginia anyway to let her know what was happening.

At 10pm things really were progressing and we knew it was definitely the real thing. The contractions were becoming increasingly uncomfortable and lasting for longer. At 11:30 I decided I wanted Virginia here and called her. By this point the contractions were every 4-5 minutes and lasting about 60 to 90 seconds. Virginia arrived shortly after by which point the contractions were very close together. I had been experimenting with positions and had found that straddling a chair backwards so I could lean against the back of the chair was the most comfortable position for me. I had also had a shower which provided great relief during contractions. Labour continued to progress reasonably quickly and I soon became tired so Virginia suggested trying to get some rest between contractions. I didn’t find that easy in the upright position so I tried lying on my side but that didn’t suit me so I got in the pool. The water certainly helped and I did manage to get some rest in between contractions. We had a discussion about whether to have an examination or not. I was curious to know how far I’d progressed but also didn’t want to become disappointed if I was progressing slowly. In the end we decided to go for it and I was pleased to hear I was 7cm dilated. Virginia suggested I get out the pool and have a walk around. This had the effect of making the contractions come thicker and faster so after a while I got back in the pool for a bit of respite.

The point came when I really started to become despondent and wanted it all over. Virginia told me this was transition and was perfectly normal. Not long after this I started getting involuntary urges to push. I’ve already forgotten what the contractions felt like but I’ll never forget how different they became in second stage. The pain just went and was replaced by this overwhelming bearing down feeling. Virginia had already told me that the pain would stop but that it would become hard work. I pushed for a while and Virginia monitored the baby’s heartbeat in between contractions. The baby’s heartbeat started slowing down so Virginia did an examination and found there was still some cervix in the way. She got me out the pool and pushed it out of the way, however the baby’s heart beat continued to drop occasionally between contractions. My husband rang Kay to give her our address while Virginia rang an ambulance as a precaution. The ambulance arrived just as the head was starting to crown. Virginia advised not to get in the ambulance as the baby was very nearly here. Virginia asked the ambulance crew to wait and I pushed with all the strength I had in my body. It took several contractions to push the head out which I did standing up (or rather hanging from my husband’s neck!). Due to the fact the baby was coming slowly Virginia became concerned about the shoulders and laid me on the floor. My son was born a few contractions later.



His 1 minute APGAR score was 5. He was unresponsive and needed 4 resuscitation breaths. The ambulance crew assisted Virginia and he soon took a breath, pinked up and was absolutely fine. His 5 minute APGAR score was 10. He weighed 9 lb 4oz and the only sign he showed of being overdue was the lack of vernix. My first stage had been 9 and a half hours and it had taken me an hour to push him out. Thirty minutes later I delivered the placenta. Then I had a lovely bath cuddling my new son while everyone else cleaned up. We then went to bed (after making plenty of phone calls of course). I loved being at home during this time. The house was so peaceful and welcoming and Adam was so calm.

I had done it! I’d achieved the home birth I never believed would be possible. Virginia was great – she was on one hand a very competent midwife, but on the other a fantastic support during my labour. She knew me and my husband well enough to know how to support us and she gave us the ability to make informed decisions about my care allowing me to feel in full control without putting my health or that of my baby at risk. Having my antenatal care and the baby at home felt right and my natural childbirth felt so intuitive. It was an incredible experience. Obviously had there been a medical need to go to hospital I would not have hesitated in going, but I was very fortunate that didn’t happen.

So has it laid old ghosts to rest? Yes and no. I’m happy in myself that my body was capable of spontaneous labour and delivering a baby naturally. I now know what physiological labour feels like and how empowering it is for a woman. I know what it feels like when your baby leaves your body and I also now know the experience of falling head over heals in love with your brand new baby. However, I’ll always be sorry about everything that went wrong the first time round. I wish we’d known about Independent Midwives then!

I was very sad to say good bye to Virginia when she discharged us. She had become so much more than a midwife and she had helped me to achieve something amazing. She would be the first person I ring if I ever found I was pregnant again!

July 2006

Here we go again!

All went well in my pregnancy, however I had leant from my previous very long pregnancies (42+1weeks and 42+3weeks LMP) so whenever I was asked for my LMP I would always say I couldn’t remember, but would say I thought I was x number of weeks (based on my ovulation date). I had very long cycles and after monitoring, believed I was ovulating 3-4 weeks into my cycle. Had I dated my pregnancy according to my LMP I would have gained 2 weeks and based on my previous performance, had the potential to go on to 44+ weeks (a complete no-no on the NHS!)! My scan dates started off agreeing but then started to put me further forward than my dates by an increasing number of days, however my last baby was on the big side so I ignored the scans believing my babies to grow bigger than the average. My 20 week scan had showed that the baby was storing urine in one of it’s kidneys. I was offered a scan at 28 weeks but declined as we couldn’t see the point – the baby wasn’t going to be delivered early and there was nothing that could be done while it was in utero. I did, however, have the scan at 36 weeks to determine whether it was still an issue or not so we could take appropriate action at birth. It was still there but there was very little and not enough to cause concern, however the scan showed the baby to be getting quite big. At that point he was estimated to weigh 7 pounds. Again we took this information with a pinch of salt as we’ve heard so many stories of scan sizes being completely out. Having said that, it did back up what Virginia and I suspected about the size of the baby so we decided to try natural induction (or induction without drugs). This meant having twice weekly sweeps from 37 weeks in order to try and persuade the baby out nearer to 40 weeks than 42 weeks. We thought this was a good idea considering the size of the baby and the fact I had a caesarean scar. At 39 weeks I also had some acupuncture following a sweep to try and move things along. That weekend I had another false labour (my fourth that pregnancy) and then started to have a show. At Virginia’s next visit I had my fourth sweep which showed some changes at long last. The baby was lower and my cervix had changed – I was pleased we were making some progress in the right direction. That night I started having some uncomfortable contractions which went thought the night. Amazingly though I slept quite well, waking for the contractions, then going back to sleep.

The next day the contractions continued but were erratic, varying from 10 minutes to 4 minutes apart. At lunchtime I tried to get some rest but found I was more uncomfortable lying down. My discomfort was upsetting my youngest son who wanted to cuddle me a lot. Not long after, the contractions stopped completely. Later that afternoon my husband took me out for a drive which got the contractions started again, every 10 minutes. Virginia came over at 6pm. She had another lady in early labour and wanted to determine what was going on with me so she could make a plan! On examining me she found I was in established labour and decided to stay with me. The contractions were still a way apart and it wasn’t until my other children had gone to bed and the house became a peaceful rather than chaotic environment that things really got going. I laboured comfortably at home. The room was quiet and only lit with minimal lighting. My sister, my husband, Lynette and Virginia were with me on what was the hottest night in July, and Kay arrived as back up in case there were any complications from his size. It was very atmospheric and the air was charged with good will. Billy was born 4.5 hours later in what can only be described as a perfect delivery. In spite of his weight (10 pounds 8) it took only a few pushes to get him out. We were all tucked up in bed by 1am having cleared up, had tea and toast, and rung those we could get away with waking up. Billy was born at a gestation of 39+3 weeks, an amazing 3 weeks earlier than both my previous pregnancies!

The relationship I built up with Virginia is amazing. It’s an incredible journey we take together and I believe it’s absolutely vital for a successful birth. I’m looking forward to next time already!